Philo Farnsworth’s parents were Latter-day Saints, and he was born in a log cabin near Beaver, Utah. Like a lot of inventors, he was mechanically inclined. He repaired the electrical generator that provided power to the family home, rewound the armature on a burned-out electric motor, and turned his mother’s hand washing machine into one powered by electricity. (Wikipedia, “Philo Farnsworth”)
How did our modern world come about? Inventors with an ah ha! or serendipitous moment largely made it by bringing their ideas to concrete form.
Nikola Tesla
Cancerian Nikola Tesla developed an AC induction motor in 1887. He showed it was efficient not only for the transmission of electrical power but its generation as well. It could be sent over long distances because its voltage levels could be easily changed. Tesla had an out of sign Mercury/Saturn conjunction. His Libra Moon was with Mars.
Martin Cooper
Martin Cooper, a Capricorn, is the inventor of the first handheld cellular mobile phone. [DOB December 26, 1928] His Moon was in Gemini or Cancer while Mars could be found in Gemini. Neptune was in Virgo.
Christian Hulsmeyer
Christian Hulsmeyer has been credited with inventing radar. Another Capricorn (December 25, 1881), he called his device the Telemobiloscope. The apparatus was patented in 1904.
Percy Spencer
In 1945 Percy Spencer was working on a radar set. It produced microwaves, and he noticed a candy bar in his pocket started to melt. Spencer attached an electromagnetic field generator to an enclosed metal box and made the first microwave oven. A Cancer, Spencer was born on July 19, 1894, in Howland, Maine. He had a grand trine in air signs involving Saturn, a stellium in Gemini, and his Moon was in tech savvy Aquarius.
Margaret E. Knight
Not too long ago, before the use of plastic bags in grocery stores, the paper variety were common. Margaret E. Knight, born on February 14, 1838, was issued U.S. Patent RE 9202 for a machine that could cut, fold, and glue paper bags with a flat bottom. She also invented a sole cutting machine for shoe making and a steel tipped shuttle restraint system to prevent injuries in textile mills. (National Inventors Hall of Fame, https://www.invent.org/inductees) Knight had a Sun/Mars conjunction in Aquarius with Mercury in Capricorn and Mars in Virgo. Saturn was square the conjunction and trine Venus.
Josephine Cochran
Born on March 8, 1839, Josephine Cochran noticed plates were often chipped when washed by hand. She designed and built a device with wire compartments placed inside a wheel that was inside a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel and pumped hot, soapy water over the dirty flatware and dishes cleaning them. This was the first dishwasher. (Ibid) Her Mercury, Pluto, and Venus were in Aries. Cochran’s Moon was in Taurus while Mars inhabited Virgo.
Willis Carrier
By increasing industrial production in hot, muggy summer months, air conditioning revolutionized life in America. Willis Carrier invented the first electrical a/c unit in 1902. His document, “Rational Psychometric Formulae,” was a seminal paper. It tied together the dew point, relative humidity, and absolute humidity. (Wikipedia, Willis Carrier) Willis was a Sagittarius.
Philo Taylor Farnsworth
Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a Leo born on August 19, 1906, is credited with producing the first all-electric television image at the age of twenty-one. He held more than 300 patents. He also invented the cold cathode ray tube, the electronic microscope, and black light to see at night. (National Inventors Hall of Fame) His Sun/Moon conjunction may have lent him concentrative force and narrowed his interests. Fix it Capricorn was rising while inventive Uranus was in the same sign. Farnsworth also had a Mercury/Mars conjunction which lent him manual dexterity.
Marcian “Ted” Hoff
Scorpio Marcian “Ted” Hoff developed the microprocessor, the part of the computer that executes instructions and processes program data. This was the foundation for the personal computer (PC). (Wikipedia, “Microprocessor” and Biografias y Vidas: Ted Hoff) Ted was born on October 28, 1937, in Rochester, New York.
Sir Frank Whittle
Gemini Sir Frank Whittle (June 1, 1907), a British citizen, tested the first jet engine on the ground in 1937. He had been a test pilot and was the son of a mechanic. The Heinkel He 178 was the first aircraft to fly using a turbojet engine in 1939. German Hans von Ohrain developed the engine. Britannica, “Sir Frank Whittle” and Wikipedia, “Heinkel 178”) Whittle’s Moon was in Aquarius. His Mars was conjoined Uranus in Capricorn.
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev invented Sputnik 1, the first satellite, and the R-7 rocket. A Capricorn, he was born on 12 January 1907.
These inventors were curious, able to concentrate and labor for long periods of time and frequently developed their inventions to solve a problem. They had a lot of patience, employed trial-and-error methods, and were unafraid of failure.